Have you felt different? On the periphery?
Rejected for being different?

Are you an ACOA (Adult Child of an
Alcoholic)? Have you been abused? Are you from a family with domestic
violence? Are you ashamed? Guilty?

Are you struggling with being Gay? Are
you ashamed of your sexual interests are you afraid of others' sexuality?

Are you experiencing a spiritual struggle?
Does being spiritual, polytheist or pagan cause you feelings of fear and rejection?

American culture, for all its adaptability and
progressiveness, can also be narrow, bigoted and oppressive. This is why we have enshrined
a "Bill of Rights." It is also why we have organizations such as the Civil
Liberties Union, The Anti-Defamation League, and the Lambda Society. Being
'different,' having alternative and unconventional points of view, behaving in ways out of
the mainstream, are truly a struggle in our society. But the struggle isn't only
with society and the law. It is with people around us - authority figures, peers,
family members - and within ourselves. These struggles, especially those within
ourselves and with those close to us, are quite painful. Rejection is painful.
So are guilt and shame. Even more painful are feeling alienated and also,
carrying a 'secret' that we are afraid to reveal, or, having revealed it, distressed by
the consequences.

'Coming out' for sexual orientation isn't the only
sort of realization and secret with which one struggles. So is any sort of
unconventional sexuality. So, too, is coming from an alcoholic or abusive family, or
having been molested, or having seen your mother abused. The shame, guilt,
helplessness and rage often seem too hard to bear and so isolating.

On the next page are a few stories
of people who've come to me. No names are given and the details of their plights
have been altered to protect their privacy.